Olympic Solidarity carries on programme in Tbilisi (GEO)

A FINA/Olympic Solidarity Technical Course was held in Tbilisi's Aquatic Learning Complex, Georgia, for Swimming Coaches (Intermediate Level) from October 23-30, 2010.

An impressive 69 local participants attended the course to listen to expert Vladimir Issurin from the Wingate Institute in Israel. The course, which was given in Russian, concluded on a very successful note. Issurin noted in his report that "professional activity, motivation and attitude during the course were of the highest level and that the general atmosphere of the course was extremely warm and friendly."

Synchro Judges and Coaches share knowledge in Amsterdam (NED)

23 synchronised swimming coaches and judges gathered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to attend a clinic on October 20-24 given by synchro expert Jennifer Gray from Great Britain.

13 were local participants and 10 came from eslewhere in Europe. The Level was Intermediate but many judges present had an Advanced level.

The programme included many relevant topics, such as The role of the coach, New rules for judging and effect on the coach, Organising a competition, and The role of the referee. Additionally, videos on coaching and judging age-group figures, technical and free routines, were shown and analysed with the audience.

Olympic Solidarity makes successful stop in Male (MDV)

20 aspiring Swimming Coaches (Beginner level) took part in a FINA/Olympic Solidarity Technical Course in Male, the Maldives, from October 20-31, 2010.

The course concluded on a successful note, with American expert Kimberly J. Bade reporting that "all coaches have a basic understanding of balance, drag elimination, core movement, active streamlining and coordinating core to extremities for propulsion for the four competitive strokes."

Coaches and Judges enjoy Diving clinic and Samba in Rio de Janeiro (BRA)

30 participants took part in a clinic for Diving Coaches and Judges (Intermediate - Advanced Level), held in the Parque Aquatico Julio de Lamare - Complexo, Esportivo do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from October 19-23.

Steve Foley, USA Diving High Performance Director, conducted the clinic, which comprised eight practical sessions and 11 theoretical sessions. There was no examination given at the end of the five-day course; instead coaches were tasked certain skills to teach their divers following presentations.

"All coaches were very receptive to try new things and there was a dramatic improvement by the end of the five days," said Foley.

Renowed Diving coach Igor Kopecky attracts many in Cali (COL)

A Diving Coaches clinic (Intermediate Level) was held in Cali, Colombia, from October 13-17, by renowed international coach Igor Kopecky from Diving Canada. No less than 60 participants, including coaches, officials, referees, and directors coming from other regional federations - Antioquia, Bogotà, Meta, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle - took part in the event.

The National Team Coach did not only his best in spreading valuable knowledge but also taught both instructors and coaches about the importance of teamwork while debating ways to improve the discipline at the national level, in line with FINA's development programme.

The President of the Colombian Swimming Federation, Dr. Ortiz, also made the effort to come, taking Kopecky to dinner while participants went to a salsa club, Cali being famously dubbed the "World Capital" of salsa dancing.

Judging Synchro not an easy task (JAM)

A synchronised swimming clinic for Judges was successfully held in Kingston, Jamaica, from October 5-9, 2010. 21 participants (14 local and seven coming from other Caribbean islands), from Beginner to Advanced level, benefited from the expertise of Barbara McNamee from the USA.

During the five-day clinic, the participants reviewed a great deal of judging aspects in synchronised swimming, a very complex (and complete) sport when someone considers both the artistic and technical dimensions of it. Subjects like the appreciation of a free and technical routine, the ability to analyse the relative difficulty of all aspects of a routine and the knowledge and understanding of all FINA Figures and their component part from the standpoint of perfection were, among others, discussed.

31 Coaches benefit from Swimming clinic in Doha (QAT)

An intense Swimming Coaches clinic (Level 2 and 3) took place in Doha, Qatar, from October 3-14, which gathered 31 enthusiastic local participants. The Lecturer of the clinic Gerd Nottelmann from Germany was delighted to see very much engaged and interested participants.

Olympic Solidarity takes action in Panama (PAN)

A FINA/Olympic Solidarity Technical Course was held for Intermediate-level Swimming Coaches in Panama City on September 14-19, 2010.

In all, 27 participants benefited from the knowledge and experience of Rafael Reyes Romero from Spain. The course comprised both theory (e.g. basis of training systems, dry-land training, training technique and season planning) and practice (how to design, develop and control a training session).

Romero noted that it was of tremendous importance to continue develop such technical courses, which arouse great motivation from coaches and help foster the sport of swimming in Panama.

St. Pauls School and the Dolphins Swimming Club welcomed 15 participants for a Swimming Coaches and Officials clinic (Beginner and Intermediate Level) in Namibia's capital, Windhoek, from August 12-15, 2010.

Neil Booth from British Swimming, who has been a Referee for many years at all competition levels, conducted the clinic. The structure of the course was built around PowerPoint presentations and small group discussions. The content included the history of Swimming and FINA, Competition Management, Powers of Officials, Laws of the Strokes, as well as poolside practical sessions, racing and a final examination.

While he was there, Booth also discussed the establishing of a local training structure for Swimming Officials in Windhoek.

Expert Virginia villalba Lopez from the Royal Spanish Synchronised Swimming Federation addressed fundamental synchro topics, preparing all participants to be one day accomplished coaches in the discipline.